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Wanda Bechtold announces run for 102nd House seat

The North Lebanon Realtor is the second Republican seeking the office being vacated by RoseMarie Swanger

By John Latimer

johnlatimer@ldnews.com @johnmlatimer on Twitter

Updated:
01/28/2014 07:04:53 PM EST

Wanda Bechtold, right, speaks with Pat Braden, Lebanon County Republican Committee chairwoman, in the Lebanon County Municipal Building lobby after Bechtold's announcement that she will run for the 102nd Pennsylvania House seat on Tuesday. (Jeremy Long — Lebanon Daily News)

Wanda Bechtold (Submitted)

A North Lebanon Township real-estate broker with a strong history of community service has entered the race for the state House of Representative's 102nd District seat.

Republican Wanda Bechtold ended weeks of speculation Tuesday afternoon when she announced her candidacy in the lobby of the Lebanon Municipal Building. Surrounded by family and dozens of friends and supporters, she described herself as a regular person seeking to make a difference.

"I'm running for this office because I am one you," she said. "I have all the concerns that you have. And I'd like to represent all of you as I would like myself represented."

Among her major concerns, Bechtold said, are soaring property taxes that make buying a home difficult for young people and maintaining a home difficult for seniors on fixed incomes. She supports House Bill 76 and its identical companion bill in the Senate that would replace property taxes by increasing and expanding the sales tax.

"Property taxes are putting people out of their homes," she said while chatting with reporters after her announcement. "I see that as a Realtor. My hope is to be able to help get this bill pushed through so that housing can be more affordable. I know, myself, once your house is paid off your taxes are almost as high as your payment was. Something has to be done."

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Bechtold, 57, said she was inspired to run when former Lebanon Councilman John Dissinger announced he is running in the neighboring 101st House District against incumbent Republican Mauree Gingrich.

The pair share similar views and, although they have not discussed campaigning together, Bechtold said, she feels they can complement each other.

"We haven't talked about teaming up, and I don't know that we will," she said. "But what I do see happening, John knows a lot of people in my district, and I know a lot of people in his district, and I can vouch for John. John and I get along, and I think it would be good for the party to have two people who get along so well."

This is Bechtold's first run for a major political office, although she has represented North Lebanon's West District on the Lebanon County Republican Committee for the past four years.

During her run for that office, she said, she was stung by mailers sent out to voters in the final days of the campaign that criticized her spotty voting history and mentioned she had been sanctioned by the Pennsylvania Real Estate Commission for failure to provide a seller disclosure document.

"I am guilty. It happened. For 25 years that is the only mark I have. ... I also have a parking ticket," she said to laughter.

Bechtold said she will not stoop to mudslinging in her campaign.

"You will not hear me utter one word about anyone else who is running," she said. "Personally, I don't care what they do."

Instead, Bechtold said, she will stick to campaigning on her qualifications, which include a six-year stint in the U.S. Army Security Agency.

She comes from a military family, having been born at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., while her father was stationed there in the Army. She is a graduate of Lee-Davis High School in Mechanicsville, Va., a suburb of Richmond.

Bechtold has lived in Lebanon County for 31 years with her husband, Tom. The couple have been married for 35 years and raised five grown children.

Bechtold's community involvement includes serving as president of the Lebanon Valley Sertoma Club for the past three years. She is also a member of the Lebanon County Commission for Women, the Community of Lebanon Association and the Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce.

She is member of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Lebanon, where she worked for 20 years a secretary. During that time she also became a Realtor. She currently is owner of a Re/Max office in Lebanon.

Bechtold is the second Republican to announce a run for the seat since four-term incumbent Republican RoseMarie Swanger announced she is not seeking re-election. The other is Joe Eisenhauer, 35, a community planning consultant from Swatara Township.

In the next term, the 102nd District will represent Annville, Bethel, Cold Spring, Heidelberg, Jackson, Millcreek, North Lebanon, South Lebanon, Union and West Lebanon townships; and the boroughs of Cleona, Jonestown, Myerstown and Richland.

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